He kicked CP in the ass after pitching him... those are grown people not playground buddies where „i dont like you anymore” has a lot of power. Its business and everybody understands it except fans
I think Harden and Giannis, this year’s histrionics notwithstanding, would complement each other well. A trade with the Bucks centered around Middleton and Harden would be fun. Middleton, Ilyasova and 3-4 picks would be a decent haul.
In this scenario I’d rather hope Milwaukee is desperate and would take Westbrook and some fillers or picks for Giannis. They have a team that would complement Westbrook really well and he would keep them relevant in the East.
Trading Harden would be dumb. What the Rockets need is a coach that understands you can’t win playing small ball. Trading Capela wasn’t the worst idea, but it was a mistake to go as small as they did. Harden used to live off of driving to the bucket and throwing up alleyoops to Capela. Now all he can do is kick the ball out to the smallish guard for a 3. Defending is easy. Imagine LeBron trading places with Harden. Do you think he could win a championship with this team and system? He couldn’t do anything without Davis last year. Teams would employ the same defense against him. Just cut off the driving lanes knowing he’s kicking it out for 3. It’s so predictable it’s sickening. No, the Rockets need a new coach and a new system. If that means getting rid of Morey then so be it. Personally I’d go after Billy Donovan and try to trade Westbrook for a center or a player like John Collins from the Atlanta Hawks. At 6’9” with a 6’11” wingspan he can guard the paint, grab rebounds, and he has the athleticism to grab lobs. He would make a living off of lobs with Harden just as Capela did as a Rocket. Not to mention, small ball is freakin’ boring! It’s like watching a 3pt shooting contest. I miss the days of watching thunderous dunks and alleyoops.
U must be a Bucks fan. That trade is gross. If Morey ever made that trade, then he’s officially lost it and would need to gtfo ASAP.
If we lose again in pathetic style again, it will be time for Harden to move on. The mutual parting of ways will be necessary. His style of play is too ball-dominant, and we will need a shift in culture. MDA will have to go too. I don't know what our next move is. We've forfeited our future for this season, traded our first round picks for seasons, and have little leverage. All teams lose. Harden's last game was pathetic. It was shades of Spurs game 6. Not even trying, abysmal.
Did u just say Westbrook for Giannis? Morey having the GM’s nudes or an incredibly racist recording wouldn’t get him to come close to doing something like that. C’mon man...
I think they run it back one year with a new coach but I’m just not so sure anymore that they are going to win a title with Harden as the 1A. I think if we had KD or Lebron with Harden here, that would be one thing. We don’t though. We can’t just move Westbrook either...1. He isn’t valued all that much around the league. 2. I doubt Harden would approve of trading his best friend.
I know it’s far fetched but if Giannis tells Milwaukee he’s leaving. You never know what it would take. Indy got less for PG.
I like the Brooklyn trade. Solid package back. Need more picks. Harden is in the East. Better for him. Though think Harden/Kyrie/KD trio has disaster potential. but then need to propose trades for Westbrook and Gordon, too.
Ya when you just basically throw your future to pair 2 mvps together with no bench, i guess you hope it works. But it didnt. So they gonna be there for awhile.Heck there cool guys and great players, rockets have good team, but you just know they wont get passed the top 4 teams, and I think maybe you can get couple brave vets to join in on the fun like green did, but who knows if it will ever = getting pass the la teams ever. Houston is pretty much on the downfall of mediocre or success from the last 3 years, and its just going to get worse..., it could take one james harden injury next year where he sulks it up for a year and westbrook just sits around and stat pads all season where rockets just miss the playoffs all together next year with a 38-44 record.
The good news is the Rockets have their picks for 2022 and 2023. After that though the next pick they have of their own is 2027. So after this year is when we would want to move Harden and/or Westbrook. Run it back one more year with a new coach, hopefully a new bench and with some bigs...maybe Kelly Olynyk or Aron Baynes (guys who can space the floor). Trade EG to clear some cap space. Obviously have to move House now as well. That’s $21M in cap space there. Tucker’s contract is up after next season, if things don’t work out by the deadline, he could be moved as well. The Rockets need better shooters and bigs. If they can somehow clear space for guys like Bogdanovic, Joe Harris, Jamychal Green, Jerami Grant, Baynes, Olynyk, Belinelli, and other shooters that would be ideal.
quoting myself... but I’m not sure Chicago does this. granted, Colby White doesn’t look like Luka out there. Or even Trae Young. But he’s only 19 still or just turned 20, and in the last month of the season he started balling for real. Like he put up three straight 30 point games and in two of them went 5/6+ on both boards and assists. I’d follow that up by trading Russ to Orlando for Aaron Gordon / Mo Bamba package. White EG Porter Gordon Markanen #4 pick this year Covington Tucker House Bamba tbf... I recognize the above isn’t exactly a championship roster. Especially since Lauri is oft injured and seems to have gotten worse. You’d have to be banking on Denver Nuggets style growth in the young players, specifically White. Personally I see all stars in his future. 6’4, crazy athletic and measurable, that was starting to put it together. Like I think he gets to current playoff Jamal Murray level of quality but the thing about MDA is he can coach any team willing to move and achieve a solid offense. I’d actually keep MDA in this scenario. Though they’d/he’d likely move on. But this is 2020. Don’t hire a Tom Thibadeaux type and offense shouldn’t be a problem with that lineup.
Thought about Brooklyn but yeah the Kyrie/Harden fit just screams drama. I’m sure if Nash ends up being a good coach like I think he will be, you can figure it out on the court, but off the court those two are just a little too weird for each other. KD is no cornerstone of stability himself. But on paper it does make some sense for both teams. If he’s not in Houston I’d enjoy seeing the Harden/KD pairing again. Stagger Harden and Kyrie as much as you can. I think the main thing the Rockets cannot have is a team with Westbrook as the centerpiece. He’ll do enough in the regular season to keep us from a rebuild, and not a damn thing in the playoffs. All the while sucking up half of our cap space. If Hardens going, Westbrook going too in another subsequent deal is an absolute must.
You can't trade Harden. He's the MVP. This would put us into a 15 year hell. We live with above average as long as we can, and hope to get lucky in the draft or free agency.
well managed organizations don’t go through 15 years of mediocrity. absolutely location plays a role. But there’s a reason both Miami and Boston are in the ECF and one of them will represent the east even though between the 2 of them they’ve represented the East 7 of the last 14 years. And both with Completely different rosters. The Heat has to suffer through their best player having to retire medically even. trade him or not... competent leadership starts top down. Unclear if Fertitties is a competent sports owner. DM probably better than most GMs but has ultimately it been good enough. Still I’d trust him to rebuild. honestly I think he could turn Harden, Russ, Eg and the rest into a playoff team next year with a completely different roster and with some future draft capital back. How to go from that to true ring contender is hard, but status quo isn’t working.
that’s not a fair deal for Houston lol. That’s giving away Harden. talking about trading Harden can be fun. But not with crazy deals that don’t come close to returning fair value. Some of your proposals made some sense. This one... definitely not. multiple young players with upside potential and multiple first round draft picks. The crazy Lakers proposal includes neither unless you think Kuz is neat and I definitely don’t.
